Updated 10:33 am, Thursday, October 3, 2013

San Antonio is in the midst of a farmers market renaissance. There's not a day of the week when one or more markets isn't selling fresh produce and locally produced gourmet foods.

Two reasons are Heather Hunter and F. David Lent. For three years, their Quarry Farmers & Ranchers Market has been packing them in, and they recently launched a second one at the Blue Star Arts Complex in Southtown. We caught up with them at the Bakery Lorraine, one of several businesses that got its start at the Quarry market.

Q: How did you get started in the farmers market business?

David: In 2009, Heather started making granola that everyone loved and kept saying she should sell. My background is on Wall Street and she has a masters in communications. Selling granola is not like anything we've ever done.

Heather: We went to the farmers market in the original Green parking lot. I made two batches of what we called Cowgirl Granola and we sold out in an hour and a half. So we decided farmers markets were the way to go. We did that for six, seven months, and the whole time David was saying, ”We can do better.”

David: There were a lot of people buying fruits and vegetables at Produce Row or even Walmart or H-E-B and then reselling at the farmers market. Plus we didn't think the application and selection process at some was fair. By the summer of 2009, I'd set my sites on the Quarry, but everyone said the same thing: “Whole Foods will never let you do it.” But when we finally got them on the phone they loved the idea. They don't see us as competition. We've been told their Sunday sales are up 30 percent since we launched.

Q: What do you look for in your vendors?

Heather: We want honesty and authenticity. Take one we just added called Scratch Burger. The operator, Joe Powell, uses his family's grass-fed beef from their ranch in Cuero, adds onions and tomatoes bought at the market, and tops it with cheese from Dos Lunas. They even make their own buns.

Q: How is your new market in Southtown doing?

David: Customer-wise it's been a slow start.

Heather: We're still confident, but they do need to step up if they want to keep the market.

Q: You've had several successful spinoffs.

David: We have. For example, Anne (Ng) and Jeremy (Mandrell) came to us and said they wanted to sell baked goods. They said they'd worked at Thomas Keller's (French Laundry, Per Se) Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, Calif. I said (laughs), “I need to sample your work. Make me a ricotta Italian cheesecake.” A couple of weeks later they brought me the cake. It was delicious. They started at the market in August 2011, and soon people were lining up. Eventually they opened here (Bakery Lorraine), but they're still at the market.

Heather: Then there's The Lemonade Company. Elias Carofilis makes the best lemonade you've ever tasted. Now he's doing corporate events, parties. To watch his business flourish the way it has, has been awesome.